| Philip Morris is believed to have appointed Credit Suisse First Boston and Salomon Smith Barney as lead managers for a partial IPO of its Kraft food unit, paving the way for one of the largest initial public offerings in US corporate history.
The IPO, proposed in June when Philip Morris unveiled its $14.9 billion takeover of the Nabisco snacks group, could raise up to $10 billion. The largest US IPO to date was AT&T Wireless’s $10.6 billion offering.
Philip Morris said in June that it expected to raise between $5 and $10 billion from an offering of a 10 to 15 percent stake in Kraft.
It is believed that four banks have been chosen as senior co-managers of the offering — Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, UBS Warburg and JP Morgan, which is being bought by Chase. | 
